Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction, 8/23/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays

Date: Sunday, August 23, 2020

Location: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL

TV: SUN/RSN

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jays (+152) Rays (-165)

Hunter Renfroe and the Tampa Bay Rays (17-10, 2nd in AL East) play the Toronto Blue Jays (13-11, 3rd in AL East) at Tropicana Field on Sunday. The line on this game has the Blue Jays priced at +152 and the Rays are at -165. The O/U has been set at 9.5. The starting pitchers are Tom Hatch and Blake Snell.

Key Toronto Blue Jays Injuries

8/19/2020 Nate Pearson SP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
8/18/2020 Derek Fisher RF Quadriceps Expected to be out until at least Aug 25
8/17/2020 Bo Bichette SS Knee Expected to be out until at least Sep 10
8/16/2020 Yennsy Diaz RP Lat Expected to be out until at least Aug 26
8/4/2020 Elvis Luciano RP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 24
7/28/2020 Ken Giles RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

Key Tampa Bay Rays Injuries

8/22/2020 Chaz Roe RP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Aug 30
8/22/2020 Yonny Chirinos SP Elbow Out for the season
8/22/2020 Charlie Morton SP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Aug 27
8/19/2020 Jose Alvarado RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
8/16/2020 Oliver Drake RP Biceps Expected to be out until at least Aug 24
8/13/2020 Andrew Kittredge RP Elbow Out for the season
7/21/2020 Colin Poche RP Elbow Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Blue Jays have a 13-11 overall record this season. Hatch has pitched in 12 frames and has 14 punchouts thus far. His earned run average is 2.21 (3 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 0.902. He has surrendered 6 hits (4.4 hits per 9 innings) and has 5 walks. Hatch (1-1 win-loss record) holds a FIP of 4.27 and he has gone up against 48 hitters. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.18 and they have given up 86 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .185 against the bullpen and they've struck out 129 hitters and walked 55 batters. As a team, Toronto allows 7.6 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.5 batters per nine innings. They are 9th in the league in team earned run average at 3.99. The Blue Jays pitchers collectively have given up 180 base hits and 94 earned runs. They have allowed 29 home runs this season, ranking them 22nd in the league. Toronto as a pitching staff has walked 101 batters and struck out 224. They have walked 4.3 men per 9 innings while striking out 9.5 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.33 and their FIP as a unit is 4.31.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Toronto is hitting .253, good for 11th in the league. The Blue Jays hold a .454 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .314, which is good for 22nd in baseball. They rank 8th in MLB with 8.7 hits per game. Cavan Biggio is hitting .270 with an on-base percentage of .393. He has 24 hits this season in 89 at bats with 14 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .528 and an OPS+ of 147. Randal Grichuk is hitting .312 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .361. He has totaled 24 hits and he has driven in 16 men in 77 at bats. His OPS+ is 151 while his slugging percentage is at .584. The Blue Jays have 208 hits, including 34 doubles and 43 home runs. Toronto has walked 72 times so far this season and they have struck out 203 times as a unit. They have left 157 men on base and have a team OPS of .768. They score 4.67 runs per contest and have scored a total of 112 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Tampa Bay has a 17-10 overall mark this year. Snell (40-28 mark in his career) is the owner of a 3.23 ERA while allowing 7.4 hits per 9 innings. He has a SO/W ratio of 2.76 and he has gone up against 2,163 batters so far in his pro baseball career. During his career, Snell has surrendered 429 base hits and he has 608 punchouts in 524 innings. He has allowed a total of 188 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.239 and being the owner of a FIP of 3.5. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.97 and they have given up 128 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .230 against the Rays bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 141 batters and walked 41 opposing hitters. As a team, Tampa Bay allows 9 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.6 batters per nine innings. They are 11th in the league in team earned run average at 4.18. The Rays pitchers as a team have surrendered 237 base knocks and 110 earned runs this season. They have given up 35 home runs this year, which ranks 10th in Major League Baseball. Tampa Bay as a staff has walked 81 hitters and struck out 252 batters. They give up a walk 3.1 times per 9 innings while they strike out 9.6 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.34 while their FIP as a staff is 4.18.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .248, good for 13th in the league. The Rays hold a .444 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .337, which is good for 4th in baseball. They rank 14th in MLB with 8.2 hits per contest. Hunter Renfroe comes into this matchup batting .174 with an OBP of .256. He has 12 hits this year along with 15 RBI in 69 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .406 with an OPS+ of 80. Brandon Lowe is hitting .326 this season and he has an OBP of .410. He has collected 30 hits in 92 at bats while driving in 24 runs. He has an OPS+ of 210 and a slugging percentage of .739. The Rays as a unit have 222 base hits, including 55 doubles and 35 homers. Tampa Bay has walked 116 times this year and they have struck out on 260 occasions. They have had 175 men left on base and have an OPS of .781. They have scored 5.41 runs per game and totaled 146 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Blue Jays/Rays MLB game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Rays (-165)

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